Method for making nondirectional warp knitted pile fabric



Feb. 21, 1961 R. s. MaOCAFFRAY, JR 2,972,244

METHOD FOR MAKING NONDIRECTIONAL. WARP KNITTED FILE FABRIC l0Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 17, 1957 Feb. 21, 1961 R. s. MaC CAFFRAY, JR2,972,244

METHOD FOR MAKING NONDIRECTIONAL WARP KNITTED FILE FABRIC Filed Sept.17, 1957 10 Sheets-Sheet '2 6/ INVENTOR Feb. 21, 1961 R. s. M CAFFRAY,JR 2,972,244

METHOD FOR MAKING NONDIRECTIONAL WARP KNITTED FILE FABRIC Filed Sept.17, 1957 10 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR R. s. M cAFFRAY, JR 2,972,244

Feb. 21, 1961 METHOD FOR MAKING NONDIRECTIONAL. WARP KNITTED FILE FABRICFiled Sept. 1'7. 1957 10 Sheets-Sheet 4 NVENTOR 38,24 .5" Macagf ra 77Feb. 21, 1961 s, MaccAFFRAY, JR 2,972,244

METHOD FOR MAKING NONDIRECTIONAL. WARP KNITTED PILE FABRIC Filed Sept.17, 1957 10 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR Rex J. flacCaf/ray.

2,972,244 METHOD FOR MAKING NONDIRECTIONAL. WARP KNITTED PILE FABRICFiled Sept. 17, 1957 Feb. 21, 19 1 R. s. M CAFFRAY, JR

l0 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Feb. 21, 1961 s, MaccAFFRAY, JR2,972,244

METHOD FOR MAKING NONDIRECTIONAL WARP KNITTED FILE FABRIC Filed Sept.17, 1957 10 Sheets-Sheet 7 Feb. 21, 1961 R. S. M CAFFRAY, JR

METHOD FOR MAKING NONDIREICTIONAL WARP KNITTED FILE FABRIC Filed Sept.17, 1957 o a 0. d

m7 m ma 105 l0 Sheets-Sheet 8 RNEYdf.

1961 R. s. M cAFFRA'Y, JR 2,972,244

METHOD FOR MAKING NONDIRECTIONAL WARP KNITTED PILE FABRIC 10Sheets-Sheet 9 Filed Sept. 17, 1957 Feb. 21, 1961 R. s. M cAFFRAY, JR

METHOD FOR MAKING NONDIRECTIONAL. WARP KNITTED FILE FABRIC Filed Sept.17, 1957 10 Sheets-Sheet 10 IN VEN TOR. /?ZJ J. 41c cu/h w' ATTORNE Y6METHOD FOR MAKliNG NONDIRECTIONAL WARP KNITTED FILE FABRIC Filed Sept.17, 1957, Ser. No. 684,587

7 Claims. (Cl. 66-S5) The present invention relates to methods ofwarpknitting pile fabric.

This application has been divided and the subject matter relating to thefabric has been embodied in my copending application Serial No. 783,733,filed December 30, 1958, for Nondirectional Warp Knitted Pile Fabric.

A purpose of the present invention is to reduce or eliminate directionalcharacteristics and particularly lining efiects in loop pile warpknitted pile fabrics.

A further purpose is to produce a warp knitted pile fabric which is lesssubject to distortion in knitting.

A further purpose is to reduce or eliminate the tendency of the pile ina warp knitted pile fabric to form or incline in a preferentialdirection, and avoid shadowing efiects due to pile inclination.

ateint ure 6 corresponds to 270; Figure? corresponds to 3009;

A further purpose is to produce in the same course of a warp knittedpile carpet or rug, pile loops having one preferential orientation andother pile loops having a preferential orientation in a different andsuitably transverse direction, such loops being referred to herewith asright hand and left hand loops. J

A further purpose is to arrange the order of left hand and right handloops coursewise of the fabric in a predetermined sequence by a suitablerepeat, for example, alternating left-hand and right hand loops of thesame course in adjoining wales, or alternating rightand left hand loopsofthe same coursebothoccurring in the same wale. As another alternative,two, three or some succession of adjoining loops inthe same cQursewillbe left hand, and' two, .three or some succession willbe right hand, andso on across the course. 7

A further purpose of the invention is to-shog onepile yarn guide baralwaysopposite to a second pile 'yarn guide bar, so that whenever oneguide bar wrapsthe pile lyarriaround the plush points to the left',thegother pile yarn guide bar wraps the yarn around the plush point tothefright. Thepile yarn guide bars always shog opposite- 1y to, oneanother. v a I A. further purpose is, tobind one leg of pile loop s oftwo differentguidebarsin thefsamegwale andtoextend the loops oppositelyand bind theoppositelegs of the loops in'diiferent'wales preferablyequallydistant from the first Wale. On the next course, this procedureisreversed.

claims. v

' Further purposes appear in the specification and the shadowing.-

. In the drawings, .I'have. chosen to illustratesra fe w only l of thenumerous embodiments in which my invention'may appear, selecting theforms shown from the standpoints of convenience in illustration,satisfactory operation and clear demonstrationljo f the principlesinvolved. g

"Figures .1 to .8 inclusive are digrammatic fragmentary sectionstransverse to the length of thei'needleba r the positi'onsin theknitting operation; a Figure 1 corresponds to zerofor 3 6 .,Fi g u' re 2"corre} sponds to '30; Figure 3 corresponds to ;Figure .4

plushpoint bar 'andthe sinker comb, showingprpgressive 1 "the samecourse some pile loops which arepreferent ally chain knitting yarn andthe pile yarn.

Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 9, omitting the pile yarn andillustrating only the knitting chain and the backing yarn. It will beevident that the complete fabric will constitute vthe yarn of Figure 9superimposed on the yarn of Figure 10, the chains of course-being thesame in both views.

Figure 11 is an enlarged coursewise section of Figure 9 0n the line11-11.

Figure 12 is a plan diagram showing the motion of the swing bar,needles, plush points and sinker throughout the cycle.

Figure 13 is a perspective of a warp knitting machine embodying theinvention.

Figure 14 is a fragmentary diagrammatic elevation of the swing bar camand associated mechanism in the knitting machine of Figure 13.

Figure 15 is a diagrammatic el'evationof the plush point cam andassociated mechanism in the knitting ma chine of Figure 13.

Figure 16 is a diagrammatic elevationof the needle bar cam andassociated mechanism in the knittingmachine of Figure 13. r

Figure 17 is a plan view corresponding to Figure'9;,illustrating avariation which creates a right-hand'and left-hand loop in the same Waleand course.

.Figure 18 is a view similar to Figure 9 showing asequence in which aplurality of right-hand, loops extends coursewise and then a pluralityof left-hand loopsv are in the same course.

Figure 19 is a faceview of a pile fabric accordingto'the inventionshowing left-hand and right-hand loops formed in alternate wales of thesame course. ,7 1 I Inithe prior art, extensive use has been ade of warpknitted pile fabrics in the house furnishing industry, especiallyforcarpets and rugs. g 4

The prior art fabrics of .the uncut or looped pile v a1 i ety havegenerally been subject to the disadvantage that the pile loops haveapreferentialorientation which is uniform in each course. Thisisdisadvantageousfr9rn the standpoint of esthetic appeal and stylingbecause it focuses attentionon thelinear arrangement of the'loops', andof course exaggerates slight deviation due to error in knitting. It alsocreates a preferential'light response which is different in differentdirections causing The invariableorientation of the loops of each'course in the prior artfabrics also increases the directionalcharacteristics of the constructiomso thatthe fabric produced is ingeneral rather'jsubject to distortion in knitting'usuallyby lateralcontraction. g

tioned.

] Lining effects and shadowiiig are not nqflcic'ablezinz fabric of theinvention, defects of weaving 'are lesssubject to observationand'dis'tortion in knitting ,is reduced. a i .In accordance withthepresentjinvention lpro ,ide in Oriented in one direction and some whichare preferenports 46 for a series of latch needles 47, as well known,tially oriented transversely thereto, that is, some leftwhich extendvertically and are guided by the trick plate. hand and some right-hand.Depending upon the require- The latch needles as shown in Figure 1 havebook ends mentsof the particular fabric, the relation of the left- 48 atthe top directed away from the trick plate and hand and right-hand loopsmay be one of providing each latches 50 pivoted at 51 and in oneposition closing alternate loop coursewise which is transverse to theadagainst hook ends. The other needle bar in the device joining loop, orthere may be a succession of loops with of the invention at the oppositeside of the trick plate the same orientation coursewise, and then asuccession is equipped with plush points instead of needles.

with the opposite orientation, such as two or three loops Noncuttingplush points 52 are provided with mountcoursewise which are right-handand then two or three ings 53. The plush points have notches 54 on theupper loops coursewise which are left-hand and so on. ends at the sideadjoining the fabric, flat top portions A special feature of theinvention relates to control 55, and slight fillets 56 on the sidesremote from the of shogging on two or more face yarn guide bars soneedles at the top. Otherwise the plush points will suitthat the faceyarn guide bars always shog oppositely. ably be thin metallic strips.

Thus in one particular course having loops'of the two Positionedimmediately above the trick plate and frames of face yarn, one end ofeach loop will start in adapted to move across it is a sinker comb 57mounted the same wale and the opposite end will be bound in adon sinkersupports 58 on a sinker bar as well known. joining wales, the span ofthe loops desirably being equal. Suitably positioned above the sinkers,and extending On the next course the procedure will be opposite; theseentirely across the machine, is a swing bar which carries Y Startingloops in Spaced Wales. are bound n t e suitably positioned thereon inorder from front to back, opposite ends of the loop in the same Wale. ahorizontally slideable mounting 6% for a knitting yarn The nature f thei ti ill be t und rst d guide bar having eyes or tubes 61 which receiveknitting y reference Figures 9, 10 and yarn 31, next, a horizontallyslideable mounting 62 As there shown the fabric comprises a series ofchains carrying eyes or tubes 63 which guide face yarn ends 30 ofknitting yarn 31 which lock together bundles 32 34 of frame or pile warpset A, then a horizontally slideof transversely extending hacking y thebacking able support 64 which mounts eyes or tubes 65 which yarnfollowing any desirable serpentine course, in this guides face yarn ends35 of frame or pile Warp set B, ease Shogglhg hack and fefth acrossthfee Wales- It Will and lastly a horizontally slideable support 66which carbe understood that any Suitable hacking Construction ries eyesor tubes 67 which guide backing yarn ends 33. y be p y as desired- Alatch wire 68 extends across the back of the machine.

The face of the fabric is formed {will face Y 34 Considering firstFigures 1 and la, which correspond of one guide and face Y of anotherguide to zero or 360 degrees, the first step is being taken for and inthis Case having ends threaded in tubes eerie the completion of the nextstitch, the needles 47 and the spending to alternate tricks. Each pileloop 36 is anchored l h oint 52 ar down or retracted, the sinker comb atone side in one chain and at another side in the next 35 57 i d a d orforward, and the swing bar with the Chain, and eXtehdlhg eohfSeWlseacross the fahrie the guide bars is in middle position and moving back.Where loops are alternately fight-hand loops formed from desired infabric design, the guide bars for the face yarn one guide bar andleft-hand 100pS 362 formed from the shog at this point to establish theinitial position for heXt guide the new cycle, if required, and thebacking yarn, if de- The locus P of travel of each P Y end sired, shogsto create backing weft. Actually it is unis Serpentine, the Y tl'avelihgacross from ehaih important to the present invention whether or notshogglng to the nextin one course, and then back in the opposite iaccomplished at this position. direction in the, next course, so that ineach course the Figure 1 shows a plan which differs from that of P Yends of the different frames forming adjoining Figures 9 to ll in thatthere is an end of pile of one guide loops in adjoining Wales are alwaysmoving oppositely 5 bar in each of two adjoining tricks, while ends ofpile of to one another- Thus in Figure 9 the p forming another guide barare out in these tricks, and then an end stretch 37 in a particularcourse is moving to the left f il f th other guide bar in the next twoadjoining in one Wale and the D forming Stretch 33 in the next tricks,while ends of pile of the one guide bar are out in wale and Same coul'seis moving to the right, While in such next adjoining tricks. Forconvenience in illustrathe next Wale the F forming Stretch 49 in theSame 0 tion, only one of the bars of identical pile yarn ends in ismoving to the left- In the next Course the adjoining tricks isillustrated, the next one being omitted, same Y ends are moving in ppdirections! but it will be understood that wherever in Figures la to 8a,0 Aeeel'dhlgly it Will be evident that Whereas a g a particular pileyarn end is shown in one trick with a h v has one preferential ri aleft-hand vacancy in the next trick, it is intended that there will beloop which adjoins it in the course has another preferena, repetition ofsuch pile yarn end in the next trick. tial orientation. and theintegrated result i to r ak up It will be evident that in Figure la aseries or knitted lining effects which otherwise would be created if allchains 30 of knitting yarn 31 lock together bundles 32 the loops in aparticular course were oriented .in the j of backing yar 33, and alsobind against the backing on same way- This n nly cr e a m r pl ingpopposite sides of right-hand pile loop 70 formed by pile pearance, butit produces a fabric which isv lesssubject 'yarn end 34 from the oneguide bar and left-hand pile 20 observing defects in knitting, and makesthe fabric loop 71 formed of'pile yarn end 35 ofpile yarn of the morresistant against deformation'in kn g. V other guide bar. Thusrespective right-hand and left-hand Theknitting operation will be bestunderstood by refloops are in groups of wales or tricks, there being two.ef Figures 1 t0 3 and 1a i0 311 "adjoining wales or tricks havingright-hand loops and A stationary vertically extending trick platehl, astwo adjoining wales or tricks having left-hand loops. well known in theart of knitting machines of this charac- Figure 2 corresponds. to 30 of.advance in the cycle. te is o generally tapered Cross Seeti0H. With SideThe position of the needles and the sinker comb in the extendinggenerally vertical and supporting the tfabric same as in Figure 1. Y Theguide bars are all the way back being formed and removed by thetake-off, anda side out of the '.way of the plush points, the plushpoints 52 43 suitably slightly converging and adjoining the needles.having just completed their forward or upward motion.

, A trick plate at the tophas a suitably notched needle Figure 2a showsthe shifted position of the guide bars,

guide. top portion 44 and an end 45 shown in Figure l andagainillustrates the completed loops. beneath the level of the sinkers.Figure 3 corresponds. to the position of 90 in the ,r The warp knittingmachine employed is suitably of the cycle. The swing bar and. the guidebars with it hays double needle bar type, one needle bar mounting 'sup-75 moved to the from past the raised plush points and at position thepile yarn guide bars now shog oppositely in accordance with the presentinvention. Thus as shown, pile yarn end 34 is shogged to the right andpile yarn end 35 is shogged to the left, so that it tends to wrap' theyarn around its corresponding plush point in the opposite direction(Figure 3a).

At 150 in the cycle, as shown in Figures 4 and 4a, the swing bar ismoved back, carrying with it the guide bars, while the positions of allthe other elements remain the same.

The pile yarn ends are wrapped around the various plush points inopposite directions corresponding to their shog, but the yarn whichwould be wrapped around the plush point nearest to the observer inFigure 4 is not shown since it has been sectioned away.

Figure 4a illustrates the condition established in which a new left-handloop 72 is formed from pile yarn end 34 and a new right-hand loop 73 isformed from pile yarn end 35.

' Also at. the position of Figures 4 and 4a the backing yarn 33 isshogged to the right to establish the next lay-in. The position ofFigures 5 and 5a at 210 in the cycle corresponds to the completion ofall shogging except for the-knitting yarn. The face yarn and knittingyarn guide bars have moved forward past the plush points, as shown inFigure 5a, and the face yarn ends 34 and 35 retain the formation ofloops 72 and 73 around the plush points. The backing yarn guide baris-forward of the needle positions. The needles 47 have advanced orraised and the latches have been opened by the previous knitting stitchasj shown at 74, while the previous knitting stitch. has moved downbelow the latch, leavingthe latchj of the needle open as shown.

The position of Figures 6 and 6a corresponds to 270 in the cycle. Thisposition shows all guide bars moving back of the plush points andtheneedles, with the new stitch ready to be formed when the knittingyarn enters the hook of the needles in'the next step. This is suggestedby the loops-75 of knitting yarn around the bundles of backing yarn andaround the sides of the pile loops in Figure 6a. The pile yarn loops 72and 73 are now completely formed but not completely anchored and thelaid-in stretch of backing yarn at 76 has to be anchored by thestitches. Corresponding laid-in stretches not shown occur all the wayacross the course. Figure 7 at 300 in thecycle shows the guide barsmoving to the front and midway in their swing. The sinker comb 57, whichwas in position across the knitting point, and across the end of thetrick plate among the needles, is now retracting to clear the ends ofthe needles, and the needles are beginning to retract, the latches onthe needles soon to be closed by the previous stitch. The plush pointsare also retracting. As the needles retract the previous stitch is castoff. Actually the casting off-takes place between the position of Figure7 and the position of Figure 8, and once a stitch is cast off, theprevious pile loops are fully bound and the backing is bound.

Figure 8, corresponding to 330, shows the stitch fully. completed andlocked. The sinker comb is fully retracted and now about to advanceagain to the position of zero or 360 in Figure l.

In some cases the sinker comb may not be advanced until later in thecycle as it is not required until the needles are ready to advance. I I

The relations of the cams throughout the cycle to produce the weave ofFigures 1 to 8 and 1a to 811 or Figures 9 to 11 is shown in Figure 12where the ordinate is angle and the abscissa is cam deflection. In thelefthand column, swing bar motion between the plush point side and theneedle side is shown, whilethe next-column shows needle motion up ordown, the next column shows plush point motion up or down and the lastcolumn shows sinker comb motion in or out.

The warp knitting machine of the invention may be as r V 6 (1952)chapter'l 1, Raschel Raschel Warp Loom Mechanism.

As well known in' the art, the machine of Figure 13 has a frame 77 whichjournals a suitably driven horizontal front drive shaft 78 having a handwheel 80, carrying plush point drive cam 81, best seen in Figure 15. Thecam 81 has a cam track 81' receiving a cam follower 82 which pivotallyconnects to the free end of a lever.83 having a fixed pivot on the frameat 84. The pivotal connection to the follower 82 also pivotally connectsto one end of a link 85, while at the other end ithas a pin 86 whichadjustably pivotally connects in an arcuate slot 87 on plush point arm88 which is keyed on plush point bar shaft 90 journaled in the frame.

The plush point cam 81 conforms to the cam layout set forth in Figure12.

The needle operating mechanism is identical in principle to the plushpoint operating mechanism, and isat the back of the machine of Figure13. This mechanism appears in detail in Figure 16. A rear drive shaft 91journaled in the frame mounts a needle bar cam 92 having a cam track 93which receives a cam follower 94 pivotally connected to one end of lever95, having fixed pivotal mounting on the frame at 96 on the other end.The

follower 94 also pivotally connects to one end of a link 97 which at theother'end has a pin 98 adjustably pivotally connecting in anarcuate slot100 in the outer end of needle arm 101 which is keyed on needle armshaft 102 extending across and journaled in the frame. The layout of cam92 isshown in Figure 12.

' Above the'plush points and needles, horizontal swing bar shaft 103extends across the machine journaled in the frame and carries swing barbrackets 1M carrying the guide bars above referred to, as well known inthe art.

The swing bar has, secured thereto at one end, swing bar arm 105*(Figure14) which has an arcuate adjustment slot;-106;Zlwhich receivesan'adjustment-studf10i, which pivotally connects 'to one endof'anadjustable lirtkg108, which at theother end has a follower 110whichengages in cam track 111 of swing bar cam 112 operated on the backshaft 91. The follower is positioned by link 113 which pivotally engagesfollower 110 at one end and at the other end loosely surrounds frontshaft 78.

The front shaft is suitably driven from the rear shaft by gear 114 onthe rear shaft which connects through pinions 115 and 116 with gear 117on the front shaft. The layout of the swing bar cam is shown in Figure12.

Sinker comb mechanism will be that of the prior art, with a sinker camlayout used as in Figure 12.

Face yarn for each of the face yarn guide bars is taken from a creelthrough tubes 118 and then each end passes under a feed roll 120 andover a feed roll 121,

and thence to the eyes or tubes of the appropriate guide .bar to tricks,the thread-in will be appropriately arranged,

in some cases using an end-in of both guide bars in each trick, andinother cases using an end-out of one guide bar where there is an end-inof the other guide bar and in each trick, the resulting fabric is thatshown in Figure 17, which has in each course in each wale for example aleft-hand loop 124 made from one pile yarn guide bar and a right-handloop 125 made from the other pile yarn guide bar. The end which formsthe left-hand loop in Warp Looms, and chapter 12,-

7 one wale forms a right-hand loop in the next Wale an course and viceversa so that the face of the resulting fabric is completelynondirectional.

The use of sequences of loops in the same direction in adjoining wales,as already explained in connection with Figures 1a to 811, isillustrated more in detail in Figure 18, where in the same courseextending coursewise there are, for example, two adjoining loops 126turning in the same direction and then two adjoining loops 127 turningin the opposite direction.

It will be evident that by the principles of the present invention it ispossible to obtain any desired predetermined relationship betweenright-hand loops and lefthand loops in the same course, greatlyimproving the overall efiect and eliminating directional properties.

"It will be evident, of course, that whereas only one cam of each typehas been referred to herein, depending upon the width of the machine,there will normally be cams at opposite ends, or sequences of camsfor'every bay across the machine. As this merely duplicates the camswhich have been shown, no effort has been made to illustrate themultiplicity of cams.

- Figure 19 illustrates the nondirectional character of the loops formedin accordance with the present invention, in which each successive loopin the same course is alternately left-hand and right-hand.

r In view of my invention and disclosure variations and modifications tomeet individual whim or particular need will doubtless become evident toothers skilled in the art, to obtain all or part of the benefits of myinvention without copying the method shown, and I, therefore, claim allsuch insofar as they fall within the reasonable spirit and 2. The methodof claim 1, in which the guide bars in shogging oppositely shog equaldistances in each course.

3. The method of claim 2, in which particular pile yarn ends on thedifierent guide bars are initially in the same tricks, shog oppositelyin a particular course, and in the next course again shog oppositely totheir motion in the first course, and return the particular pile yarn 5.The method of claim 1, in which the pile loops are oriented at difierentangles to one another in the same course and in the same wale.

. 6. The method of claim 1, in which the pile loops are. oriented atdifierent angles to one another in the same.

course and in adjoining wales.

7. The method of warp knitting a pile fabric, whic comprises shoggingpile yarn ends oppositely and wrapping said yarn ends oppositely aroundpile forming ele ments to form loops in the opposite directions, layingin backing yarn, knitting stitches which unite the laid-in backing yarnto form a backing, and binding the ends of' the loops in the backing toform loops in the same course which have preferential orientationdifierent from one another.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS422,646 Smith Mar. 4, 1890 1,924,649 Morton Aug. 29,1933 2,005,951Morton June 25, 1935 2,012,355 Schonfeld Aug. 27, 1935 2,200,280 Klumppet al. May 14, 1940 2,476,153 Little et a1 July 12, 1949 2,531,718 RiceNov. 28, 1950 2,557,432 Stolle et al. June 19, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS455,574 Canada Mar. 29, 1949

